Tool gives users a break from unimportant emails

Roughly a third of the average person’s workday is lost to interruptions, according to SET Consulting, and one of the primary culprits is email. Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of a new tool from the Maryland company that protects users from all but the most important messages. Now in beta, AwayFind is a web application that continually scans the user’s email for new messages. When something timely and important arrives—according to criteria set by the user—AwayFind notifies them by phone, SMS, IM or Twitter, or it can delegate the message to someone else. AwayFind can also send custom auto response messages to different people and at a frequency set by the user. With support for all IMAP-based email providers, including Gmail and many Microsoft Exchange installations, AwayFind will soon offer native Microsoft Exchange support and full compatibility with Yahoo and Hotmail. In addition to the web-based service, a plugin is also available for Firefox and Chrome. AwayFind is free during its beta period, but ultimately SET plans to charge for certain features. AwayFind users have already escaped from 2,108,668 unimportant emails, the company says. One to try out on your own inbox—or partner with on the next version…?